Nick's Ph.D. Tuition Fund
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Hello Friends,
My name is Nick Humphrey and I am a Ph.D. student in Emergency Management & Disaster Science at North Dakota State University in Fargo. I am in my first year as a doctoral student and require funding to pay for my 2nd year of Ph.D. studies.
The NDSU Emergency Management Department is discontinuing admission to the graduate program effective Spring 2022. I am one of the last graduate students to enter the program (Fall 2021) and will be one of the last to defend a dissertation and be awarded a doctorate from this department (likely in 2024). The graduate program is ending because of loss of school (and ultimately, state) funding. This is truly shameful given the strength and rigor of this program and the meaningful work done by both its professors and previous graduates. The elimination of funding means that the department no longer has money to pay for graduate teaching assistantships. I never received funding from the department, having done an on-campus assistantship job unrelated to my Ph.D. Fall 2021. I am paying for my Spring 2022 tuition with a federal student loan (my fiance is disabled and suffering from health issues that required more of my time at home temporarily as we have a 5-year-old son). I had hoped to be a TA next year within the department for more relevant experience, but now that will be impossible.
I am working to secure funding for my 2nd year through other means. I have applied to try to receive federal loan money for the 2022-23 school year. However, I have used a significant amount of loan money to complete my Bachelor of Science (Interdisciplinary Studies, 2013) and Master of Science (Geosciences - Applied Meteorology, 2016) degrees. I am also applying for private scholarships, but obviously, I am competing against everyone else on the planet for the same funds.
My doctoral studies include not only coursework but research and professional development. My goals are to promote disaster research within the field of meteorology and improve disaster response for disadvantaged people. This is very important to me given the worsening state of the planet, including rapid climate change and increasingly more intense and/or frequent natural hazard events. Here are my current and anticipated activities now and into my 2nd year of Ph.D.:
1. I am a board member for the American Meteorological Society Board on Societal Impacts for a 3-yr term (beginning January 2022). My goals are to increase the visibility of social science knowledge (particularly warning communication) to meteorologists within the organization. Improving meteorologists' risk communication skills and understanding of human behavior during the preparedness and response to hazards can save lives.
2. I am working with my doctoral adviser on a manuscript for peer-review for a qualitative study on perceptions of the effectiveness of state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) in the US. As a collective of organized nonprofit organizations, effective state VOADs can improve response and recovery services for survivors of disasters.
3. I am waiting for a hiring decision (end of February) to be a full-time, paid graduate research intern for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 10-weeks this summer. Such an internship will involve research relevant to my disaster science interests. I will have the opportunity to present research results (abstract fee waived) at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in Denver in January 2023. This internship will be in addition to taking two advanced courses in preparedness and response theory (my specializations) where I will write six literature review papers on theory, methods, and the state of knowledge, relevant to individual/household response to warning communication.
4. I am waiting for a pending decision on admission into the American Meteorological Society's Early Career Leadership Academy curriculum (starts in mid-March, ends with an in-person meeting in Kansas City in June). This brings together early career scientists, especially those of underrepresented groups (women and people of color) to network and learn leadership skills such as diversity training, conflict management, and building trust in relationships.
5. I currently write 4-5 days/week for a Patreon blog devoted to discussion of significant weather and climate events (US and globally), as well as issues relevant to emergency management. I do request donations for my writing, but all of my posts are public for the public interest in science. I also participate periodically (usually once a month) in the podcast Environmental Coffeehouse managed by Sandy Schoelles, where I discuss weather and climate events from the perspective of meteorology as well as emergency management (my most recent participation here ).
5. I currently write 4-5 days/week for a Patreon blog devoted to discussion of significant weather and climate events (US and globally), as well as issues relevant to emergency management. I do request donations for my writing, but all of my posts are public for the public interest in science. I also participate periodically (usually once a month) in the podcast Environmental Coffeehouse managed by Sandy Schoelles, where I discuss weather and climate events from the perspective of meteorology as well as emergency management (my most recent participation here ).
5. For my second year, my adviser and I have discussed me authoring a manuscript for peer-review, reviewing the literature's treatment of race/ethnicity as a quantitative variable. I wish to highlight the limitations and potential pitfalls of how it has been interpreted in disaster research. This is related to my research interests for my dissertation (warning communication and challenges to individual/household response based on race and class).
6. Later in my 2nd year, I'll prepare for my two comprehensive examinations for Summer 2023 - one testing my competency in research methods, the other on emergency management theory. I must pass both to remain in the Ph.D. program. They will involve a written component (writing short papers with references answering specific questions) followed by verbal defenses of my answers before my doctoral committee. Passing will mean I move on to conduct my dissertation research. I may also (depending on time) do a second full-time internship with the US National Weather Service relevant to social science (I have a professional contact interested in me gaining experience within his division at some point).
All of this is only possible with funding.
I need to pay for tuition and fees (~$8000/semester for summer, fall, and spring), plus account for any additional books and travel and registration costs for professional conferences to present research. Any remaining funds would go towards paying routine bills. Funding allows me a greater focus on my research and professional work within emergency management and meteorology, while also caring for my family. My fiance is disabled and works only 12.5 hrs/week and my son is entering kindergarten in Fall 2022. So all the work and time spent in this program is to advance my career and provide for my family in the long term. I'm working my tail off to gain knowledge and skills to both communicate the existing knowledge and generate new knowledge to answer important societal questions that can save and improve the lives of real people. I am constantly working the vast majority of my time 7 days/week, committed to this cause. Emergency management is one of the most important fields right now and yet completely misunderstood and underappreciated. Those who assist me with funding will see their contribution bear fruit by my rapidly increasing expertise, contribution, and influence across two fields. I have the drive to succeed and there will be a return on your investment.
I need to pay for tuition and fees (~$8000/semester for summer, fall, and spring), plus account for any additional books and travel and registration costs for professional conferences to present research. Any remaining funds would go towards paying routine bills. Funding allows me a greater focus on my research and professional work within emergency management and meteorology, while also caring for my family. My fiance is disabled and works only 12.5 hrs/week and my son is entering kindergarten in Fall 2022. So all the work and time spent in this program is to advance my career and provide for my family in the long term. I'm working my tail off to gain knowledge and skills to both communicate the existing knowledge and generate new knowledge to answer important societal questions that can save and improve the lives of real people. I am constantly working the vast majority of my time 7 days/week, committed to this cause. Emergency management is one of the most important fields right now and yet completely misunderstood and underappreciated. Those who assist me with funding will see their contribution bear fruit by my rapidly increasing expertise, contribution, and influence across two fields. I have the drive to succeed and there will be a return on your investment.
Thank you.
Nicholas T. Humphrey, M.S.
Ph.D. Student
NDSU Department of Emergency Management & Disaster Science
Organizer
Nicholas Humphrey
Organizer
Fargo, ND